Saving the Race With a Berth and a Dozen or So Femmes
by Prime627
Summary: The Cybertronians are dying, and the femmes that are being found are being used by the mechs in the hopes of creating sparklings. To keep from inbreeding, the products of keeping the femmes are traded as well, and the mechs grow until they can sire their own sparklings. What could possibly go wrong?
1. Chapter 1

Optimus walked down the halls. He had a new base now, a new base filled with femmes he had discovered along his travels to Cybertron and back. He also traded femmes with other mechs around Earth, traded them to keep him from breeding with his daughters. Smokescreen and Ultra Magnus had femmes of their own and he traded with them a lot, but he preferred the femmes he captured in his travels. He hated keeping the Seekers here, but without them, their race would die.

They were kept in rooms with wash racks, desks, bookcases, chairs, and a closet to store personal belongings. A few were happy there, but a servoful were not. He had a dozen femmes:

Nightshade, Starsong, Lilybreeze, Dragonbreath, Lyra, Ursa, Comettrail, Phoenyx, Fyreworks, Scorpion, Serpentine, and Ava. He had his favorites, femmes he visited regularily because they carried the most desired sparklings, the most sparklings, or they were simply beautiful in the berth. Those were the ones he planned to visit today.

He knocked on Lyra's door first to check on her carrying belly. She was not one of his favorites, but lately, she was working her way up to the top of the list. She was carrying pretty sparklings that traded quickly, and he was ending up breeding with less and less of his daughters until he only bred with one, only during her heat cycle. That was dear Ursa, ranked nine on his list.

"Hello, Optimus," she purred gently, blushing when the mech walked into her room. She spun for him, then let him touch her belly. Her optics dimmed and she giggled. The sparkling inside twitched against Optimus' servo. "Are you sure I'm too round for you to mount."

"I am sure, beloved." He kissed her gently then, purring. "You are one of my favorites, you know?"

"I bet you tell that to twelve of us every day," she giggled, but she kissed back and hugged his neck. "I wish I wasn't rated eleven...is my daughter really rated above me?"

They had numbers on their doors. If they moved up in rank, they moved rooms. The higher-ups rarely moved, the lower ones hardly moved, and the ones in the middle moved after every frag. She was in the one of the last rooms, given to her after her failure to produce sparklings for several weeks. That was expected out of a fellow grounder, of which he had five.

"Indeed." He smiled down at her. "I expect nothing else from a beautiful femme that came from you."

She purred and stroked her belly, pushing him out of the room. "Alright. I get it. Go and frag another pretty femme, dirty mech."

Optimus kissed her one last time, looking at the last door, the one with a 12 on it. He wondered if he could open the door, but he didn't know, so he walked towards the tenth door.

Lilybreeze was in heat, grinding down against the chair leg while she laid on her belly, her aft in the air. Optimus gave the femmes Energon spiked with hormones. The Seekers didn't need a heavy dose, because when they were in heat, Optimus could smell it if he stood in his quarters on the other end of the base. The grounders needed several doses a day before their heat cycles would finally come. When they did, it did not disappoint Optimus. Lilybreeze was in a Level One heat cycle, not grand by any means, but still promising. Level Three, only reached by Seekers, was not desired by Optimus this day. If he was in heat himself, he went straight to Room One, which held a Seeker who never disappointed him in the berth.

"Hello, my beloved. I am sure you desire a nice frag." He patted her aft as he spoke, coaxing her to let him access her valve. Two digits slid into her and she wailed, paddling her back pedes against the ground like a she-cat in heat. Optimus chuckled and he guided her to the berth. Femmes burned out fast when they were in heat. It wasn't disappointing, but it was always confusing when Optimus was still fragging and Lilybreeze was moving with his thrusts, quiet and limp.

She was watching him now, waiting for his spike to spread her wide. She whimpered and pulled at his chest until he opened his panel and let his spike slide into her waiting valve.

He spoke into her audio while she moaned. "If you produce, you might get above Ursa." He smiled, thrusting forward, which made her squeal in delight. "If not, I may have to move Lyra up to tuck you into eleventh place."

Lilybreeze whined, but there was still hope for her if occupant number twelve still refused to show him what she had. She licked his cheek and giggled softly, letting him frag her.

This time, Optimus overloaded before she did, and she panted softly on his face while her valve clenched and dripped around his spike. She was staring at him, blushing and twitching while he pulled out and cleaned her up with gentle servos. He was never rough to his pretty femmes.

He visited the younger femmes (Dragonbreath, who he traded Seasand for from Smokescreen and the little femme Scorpion who he found wandering around on Cybertron), who were both carrying. Dragonbreath was carrying a trine, which was promising. Optimus greeted her with warm kisses and tender hugs, laughing when his creations paddled their pedes and kicked his servos when he touched her belly.

"They adore you," she whispered.

"I think everyone in this base does," Optimus laughed. He looked up at her, but he found only concern.

"The femmes below me, they are all grounders but one?"

The only grounders above Dragonbreath were ranked high, very high. Two and three, Serpentine and Scorpion, respectively. They were pleasing, eager to try new things, and they created beautiful femmes that were now breeding with Bumblebee, a mech he didn't trade with or gift often.

"Yes."

"The last one does not please you?"

"I have not gotten her to open up. She is lifeless and sick, but I cannot get her to respond." Optimus sat down. Seekers were social creatures, always nuzzling and kissing and hugging. So when Nightshade was converted from medic to breeder, Optimus expected her to soar through the ranks. Instead, when he rated her a five, just above her sister, she dropped all the way to twelve in days due to not responding. Optimus didn't rape. He fragged them when they let them, but Nightshade refused him.

"She is a broken femme."

"I thought once we had her on our team, we would win. But instead of being the top warrior the stories told us, she turned medic and refused to use her gift." Optimus looked at her, hoping for some advice.

"She was a great fighter at one time. She was a spy, an assassin, and a field medic who healed in no-bot's land. She was not afraid. And then she made a promise to her carrier to never kill again, and she has kept that promise. She is a weary and old femme. Treat her with some respect." She smiled down at him and stroked his helm and cheek. "Perhaps I should talk to her?"

"Maybe we should both visit her one day. Another Seeker would do her some good."

He left her then, going to visit Phoenyx, whose room reeked of Seeker-heat. If you had never smelled a Seeker in heat, it was a strong, sweet smell that drew both sexes in like flies to a carcass. And Phoenyx smelled delicious to Optimus.

She was laying on her berth, a servo between her legs and a data pad in the other servo. Seekers, they did not burn out during their heat cycles. They were so, so alive.

"Hello," she purred. She was always so polite, so sweet to Optimus and the other femmes. Soon, Optimus decided, he would let them go out and sun. Ultra Magnus would come to visit them and possibly trade femmes with the Prime once again.

"Hello," he purred back, shutting the door behind him.

Phoenyx never disappointed him, which earned her the number-one room. He would never trade her so long as she continued to please him.

She spread her legs and the scent blew Optimus down. He rubbed her valve, licked off the lubricant that was there, and mounted her.

"You waste no time," she sighed and he knew Seekers liked to be played with, but the scent was driving him crazy. He had to get relief soon. "Shame you're not a Seeker. We'd have some real fun then."

He chuckled and licked her neck. It was sensitive for her, and he liked making her whine. Her wings were delicate and he didn't trust himself with them while she was like this. Since he had no wings, and had no experience with them, he did not know what they liked and how to approach them. So he only rubbed and pinched the very tips, which drove Phoenyx crazy.

Her red armor pulsed like it was on fire. The coloration was to bring males in, and Optimus was hooked. His spike found itself wrapped up in her dripping, slick valve. She moaned loudly for him, encouraging him to _move_.

She groaned loudly at him when he finally did, arching up into his hips and grinding down against them. He held her still, thrusting into her as he purred and chuckled. "Eager, are we?"

"You've made me wait all this time!" She bit his lips playfully, kissing him then and purring loudly as she did. "I almost ran down to your quarters for some relief."

The femmes were allowed to leave their quarters and walk around, but they were not allowed to leave the hall without Optimus as an escort for their safety in case someone came to steal the Prime's femmes. If they were in the hall, that meant that they eluded getting tranqued, shot at by sentient lazers, and electricuted. Optimus set those traps and the alarms up every night before he recharged. It kept the femmes and any sparklings safe.

He shrugged. "Perhaps you should run to my quarters. I should move it closer, cut down on the femmes I own."

Phoenyx purred. She had nothing to worry about. She was the top femme, and the proof of that was stretching her valve, moving inside her and getting ready to burst.

"Mmmm." She licked her lips when he overloaded. He was out, but she kept moving her hips against his. She could go on for hours.

"I think I should trade Nightshade and Lyra. I love them, but they are not really producing."

Phoenyx stroked his helm, purring loudly. "Haven't gotten Nightshade to roll over yet, huh?"

He shook his helm in a hopeless way.

"Just give up on her, Optimus, baby." She kissed him. "Nothing will get through to her spark. She may be in her peak, but she will let no one inside after the lock to her spark was warped."

Optimus nodded slowly and he kissed her gently. "Get some rest." He got up and looked down at her belly. He didn't know if she was carrying, and he wouldn't know for a day or two. "I will return tomorrow to check on you."

He walked down the hall, stopping to peek into the last door, watching Nightshade sit on her berth like she had for days now. Her Energon sat, untouched, on the floor where Optimus set it three days ago.

"Drink," he prompted, but she remained still. He sighed and closed the door, tapping his comm. "Ultra Magnus, I think I may have some femmes for you if you would be so kind to stop by and visit with them."

 _I will come as soon as I possibly can,_ Ultra Magnus commed back.


	2. Chapter 2

That night, Optimus dreamed of his daughter. Her first heat cycle, and what he had done to her, not because he wanted to, but because she begged him.

 _Ursa was laying on her back, her legs spread wide and her optics glued to her sire. "It aches."_

 _"You are in heat, my beloved." Optimus touched her valve with his thumb, rubbing the exterior sensor into a small circle. It made her arch up and groan loud. He liked that._

 _"Why?"_

 _"It means you are able to produce, which is a healthy, healthy response, I assure you."_

 _Ursa sat up, staring down between her legs. To see it properly, Optimus had to hold a servo-held mirror for her, which made her blush and_ oooh _at the same time. It was dripping, as if Optimus turned on a faucet and just let it trickle. Not completely on, but not off, either. "Why is this happening now?"_

 _"You are older, and a pretty virgin like you should be traded."_

 _Her optics widened. "Daddy, why?"_

 _"So there is no inbreeding."_

 _She collapsed into tears. Her heat was natural. Optimus never spiked her Energon. The hormones that flooded her now were all due to Carrier Nature, unfortunately. The real hormones were more powerful than anything Optimus could have Ratchet cook up in a lab. "I don't wanna go away, Daddy!"_

 _"I know, lovely, but you cannot stay here long, can you?"_

 _"No," she blubbered through tears and a wobbling bottom lip._

 _Optimus rubbed her valve once more. "Shh. You can self-service." He took her servo to guide it to the swollen sensor he was playing with, but she jerked back as if something shocked her._

 _"Show me how?"_

 _Her blue optics bore into his and the sweet innocence threw Optimus over the edge. He couldn't leave his daughter, dripping and whimpering and scared. So he taught her everything she needed to know._

The scent of Seeker-heat woke him. It was fading, as if someone had walked by and was now down a different hall. He followed the scent, interested in the source. He investigated Phoenyx first, but she was sleeping. No scent there. He searched every Seeker room, stopping when he closed Comettrail's door. There were no more Seekers...except...

He opened Nightshade's door, walking in. "Nightshade?"

She was laying on her side. The Energon cubes were empty. The Seeker-heat scent was stronger. "Go away," she rasped. She sounded like she was crying for a very long time, and Optimus had no doubt that she had been crying for days.

"I can help you."

"I don't desire nor do I need your _help_." She sat up and glared at him. "I want to be _free_."

Optimus sat down at her desk, touching her knee. She hissed as if he burned him, backing into the corner. Her cheeks were wet with tears, and there was a stronger scent of her heat when she moved. His cooling fans cycled loudly. She gave him a look of digust, and he ducked his helm in mock shame.

"You cannot be free, my beloved Seeker. You must help us save the race, save your fellow Cybertronians. Do you not want to help me?"

She bared her denta at him. At one time, when she was younger, she could have been fierce, but now she was broken and pathetic. Why Optimus thought it was a good idea to steal her from her neutrality and make her fight for them was beyond him now. It was obvious there was nothing to be gained from keeping the husk of a former legend's daughter. "What for? You're just going to trade me. I haven't let you inside, never let you see why I refuse."

"Beloved, it is written all over your face, the pain you feel and the desire to live like you had before your wings were broken."

Her physical wings fluttered angrily, but her emotional wings drooped. Whatever fire she had burning in her optics went out and she slowly spread her legs in defeat.

Optimus got up and kissed her. He found the invitation he wanted for weeks, and he wasn't going to let it slip away.

He prided himself with how gentle he could be. He thought he was the most gentlest mech in the whole universe, a gentle giant like the whale shark or even, believe it or not, the sawfish. Instead, with every thrust, Nightshade winced and mewed in pain, but she never told him to stop.

He bit his lip, struggling to stop, struggling to ask her what was wrong. Her optics dimmed and she watched him sadly.

"Don't stop," she rasped, grabbing his arms when he started to pull out of her. Optimus blinked down at her, and she mouthed a word that softened his spark. "Please."

She was quiet the rest of the session, and she arched up once when she overloaded. Optimus overloaded into her and rubbed her valve gently as he cleaned it with a wet cloth.

She watched him with dim, purple optics. "Twelve?"

"Ten," he said softly. Despite her total lack of everything that made Lilybreeze enjoyable, she deserved a room change, and Lilybreeze was in for an upgrade. He intended to trade Lyra after she dropped the sparkling and gift Ursa as soon as possible.

Optimus stayed with Nightshade until dawn, her helm in his lap while she slept, curled up against him. He played with her wings, which made her twitch and whine. Ultra Magnus found him (he was a smart bot) and showed him the two femmes he wished to trade. He walked in to look at Nightshade, who Optimus originally offered.

His gentle servos turned and prodded her without waking her. He made approving noises mostly, but gave an ultimate thumbs-down when he heard that Optimus had only warmed the berth with her once. They moved on.

Lyra was snoozing, her round belly warming Optimus' spark. He felt a surge of fondness for her and he waited for Ultra Magnus to find her flaws: a cracked plate, imperfect denta, and failing sight. They came to Lilybreeze, and she was all positives, which was saddening. He really liked her. A quick scan showed that she was not carrying, and Lilybreeze was replaced by Ultra Magnus' daughter he called Moonlight. She was pretty, silvery-blue armor and blue optics. She was a very pleasing sight, and Optimus could smell she was virgin.

Next in line was Ursa, who disappointed Ultra Magnus. She was awake and was determined to remain with Optimus. She limped, drooled, and bit the older mech when he touched her panel to see her valve. Ultra Magnus looked at Optimus with amused, but disapproving optics.

Optimus moved on, heading straight to door number foor, which held a tiny Seeker who had produced three healthy trines now living with Smokescreen.

"This is Ava."

The femme looked up and smiled at Ultra Magnus. She was tiny and looked like a youngling, but she was old, and reaching the end of her peak, where she would turn into a caretaker, a femme who laid with the sparklings, tended to the sparklings, and did everything with the sparklings, but Optimus was sure she had two good trines left in her. She was replaced quickly. In her place sat Fawn, a dusty brown femme with big blue optics.

Ava and Lilybreeze walked out behind Ultra Magnus, the latter glancing back sadly at Optimus, who waved her and a few tears off. That was the last he saw of either femme.

Lyra gave birth that afternoon to a little mech Optimus called Leo, in honor of his golden armor and sharp digits. He had the little one imprint on Seastar, the caretaker. She was getting impossibly old, which saddened Optimus all the time. Who would he have to replace her now?

That was the saddest thing, he supposed as he watched Lyra watch her son imprint on Seastar. What broke a breeder was not being able to play with the creation afterwards. The mechling wouldn't know his femme, only that she was, at the time, number eleven in Optimus' care. Optimus guided Lyra back to her quarters, but stopped her and dumped a stack of towels in her arms.

He herded his top femmes out first, laying them out in the sun. He admired Fawn's armor as she sunbathed. It sparkled and glittered as if she were covered in dew, and she earned a fond spot in the Prime's spark. He herded his middle femmes out, laying Dragonbreath so that her belly got the warmth. Then the last femmes, save Twelve, were let out. He went to Nightshade last, wanting to see her belly.

She was laying on her side, blinking at the wall. She greeted him. "It's still the same ugly wall..."

"You've been moved to ten until Moonlight proves her worth. Fawn is eleven know and Moonlight is twelve.

Her optics closed and she sighed softly. "Mm..."

Optimus wanted to see her smile. "If it is an ugly wall, maybe I could repaint it for you?"

She just stared at him with dark optics and she rolled over onto her back, sucking her belly in. There was a distinctive bump that was undeniably a trine. Optimus sat by her and touched it, laughing softly.

"Oh, Nightshade, look! You are carrying! Isn't it wonderfu-" He caught sight of her optics.

Tears welled up in the purple depths, and her clawed servos came to rest on her belly as she stroked it gently. Her lips parted and her throat siezed up. Optimus could see it and his shoulders dropped. What had he done to this femme?

"Nightshade?"

She looked at him sadly, and she forced a smile. "Let's go outside...okay...?"

When she got outside, the femmes were on her like flies, touching her face, her wings, her belly, remarking how pretty she was, how lovely she looked carrying. And Nightshade acted like she was alone. She laid down and slept, the sun warming her armor. She was very pretty in the sun, Optimus thought, and he stroked her helm. Her optics remained closed, but she bared her denta in a warning.

Optimus sighed and got up, walking to sit by Fawn. She would be his first femme that night, or even now if she opened her legs for him.

She did, and he was on top of her. He opened her panel and pressed his spike into her valve. There was a popping sound and he was inside, thrusting and making her cry out in delight.

When she overloaded and Optimus finished pumping his coding into her, he looked up and found Megatron with a basket in his servos. "Greetings," he panted. He was buried in a femme, his hips and thighs shiny with lubricants from Fawn's overload, and both of them were red-faced.

"Greetings," Megatron purred. He set the basket down and Optimus moved closer to the basket, pulling out of Fawn with a pop and a gush of fluid. "My daughters. Arcee makes lovely sparklings, doesn't she?"

Optimus pulled out the two femmes. They weren't triplets. They were born at different times. One was a youngling, the other was a sparkling, and the one standing behind Megatron with wide optics was a young femme. He smiled up at his friend and he got up, putting his spike away before he wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "I, too, may have a daughter for you. Ursa!"

The femme limped up, drooling and making odd noises. Optimus glared at her, but wrapped his arms around her in a fierce hug.

"Is she defective?"

"She is faking."

"She is a very good faker."

"Thank you," Ursa burbled. She stood up straight and wiped the drool off her lip with the back of her servo.

Megatron smiled and turned her around. "Virgin?"

"It has been a struggle to keep her that way," Optimus said as he sighed.

"She is very attractive." He tapped her panel, as if he didn't believe his friend, but Optimus knew he saw her filmy seal over her opening. "Very attractive and in perfect shape. I'd take her from you if she wasn't attached to you."

Optimus rolled his optics. " _Please_ take her." He shook Ursa off him and pushed her to stand by Megatron. "And take good care of her, yes? I would hate to come over with a few of my own sparklings and find little Ursa strung up by Arcee over your berth like a demented mobile."

It wasn't a secret that Megatron liked to tie his femmes and frag them over his berth. He liked their distressed wails and how they couldn't kick and squirm away from him. Arcee seemed to be permenantly strung from Megatron's ceiling. Optimus only recalled seeing her once on the floor on her own pedes.

"You have sparklings?"

Optimus led his friend to the nursery. He showed him the three mechs that were growing up to become owners of femmes and the littlest femme laying in her crib. "That is Deerstep."

"She is pretty." Megatron walked to the sparkling, peeking in as he smiled. "I will take her as soon as possible." He turned to his oldest friend. "Do you need a caretaker? I have two old femmes, and I need a place for one of them to go."

Optimus nodded. "I would like that."

"Then I will bring her when I come for the sparkling."

Megatron left with Ursa, leaving the gifts for his friend.

The oldest, Cee, was put in Ursa's spot. The youngest were placed in the nursery.

Optimus let his femmes sunbathe a little longer. Phoenyx was carrying as well, petting Nightshade's belly while talking about sparklings she's carried. Nightshade was either tuning her out or absorbing everything with a straight face even while Phoenyx laughed and purred. She stopped when she saw Optimus and she looked up at him.

"Are you pestering her?" He sat down, touching Nightshade's belly. She twitched under his servo, one optic cracking open to glare at him.

"No," Phoenyx purred, but she got up and left them. She went to sit beside Cee instead.

Optimus lowered his helm so his lips rasped against her audio. "I know you do not want this trine."

Her optics opened a little.

"But I thank you for carrying them. You are saving the race by doing this, you know?"

She sighed softly and said two things that were barely audible. _I know_ and _You're welcome._


	3. Chapter 3

Nightshade moved up in her rank. She was now nine. Cee bumped her up. The ranking went as followed, from bottom to top on the Favorites Ladder:

Moonlight

Fawn

Cee

Nightshade

Lyra

Dragonbreath

Comettrail

Starsong

Fyreworks

Scorpion

Serpentine

Phoenyx

Optimus set the traps that night and he walked back to his quarters, yawning and sighing as he did. He laid down and expected an easy rest. He was wrong.

The sirens went off, waking Optimus at 1:43. He ran down to the femmes' hall and he looked in, running to every door. When he had finished, he sunk to his knees in the middle of the hall, the remaining three breeders clinging to him. Only Lyra, Moonlight, Cee, Fawn, Scorpion, and Serpentine remained.

"What happened?"

"Someone came in," Cee whimpered. She looked around the hall.

Optimus lowered his helm and hugged his helm and he howled his pain. "Ahh!" He had promised to keep them safe, and now they were gone. Where could they have gone!?

 _ **Just fifteen minutes earlier...**_

"Hello, little femme."

Dragonbreath opened her optics and she cried out at the strange mech staring down at her with dark red optics. She whimpered, but let him drag her to her pedes. She was pushed down in front of her door, and she blinked at the mech while he walked to Nightshade, who was struggling and growling.

"I know you're scared."

Nightshade looked up at gasped.

"But I'll take good care of you, I promise." He touched her belly, chuckling as she froze in fear. "I will take care of all of you!"

Fyreworks watched him walk to another closed door. Only the grounders were still tucked away safely.

Nightshade saw this and her optics narrowed. She broke the weak-rope bounds that only held the other femmes because they were scared and not furious, and she touched the plate that set off the alarms.

"Fool," the mech growled as he ran at her. "You think you're so great, don't you? Look at you, just a pretty little femme with an amazing gift, but I know you're weak. I know you'd never harm a spark in your life. Not after you promised your dear, dear carrier before you tore out her throat!"

Dragonbreath cried out again, and the femmes bunched together as they stared. Nightshade closed her optics and she let the mech drag her and the others out of the base.

He was an unusually strong mech for his age.

 **ooo**

Optimus called Megatron and informed him of the bad news. The mech said that he would keep a look-out for the femmes, and Optimus had a little bit of hope to cling to.

"But Nightshade is with them."

"I wouldn't put all your hopes on her." He sighed softly then. "She's not the femme she was born to be."

Optimus cut the frequency and he sighed, shaking his helm at the femmes. "We have no idea where they could be..."

 **ooo**

"Welcome home!" The mech spun, his wings flicking and he laughed softly, touching each cheek. "Welcome home, my pretty Seekers. Didn't you miss being free? Seekers were not meant to be caged up and shackled! They were meant to be _free_!"

Starsong watched him, her limp wings rustling against her back as she shifted. The mech caught sight of her.

"Even you, my dear one." He stroked her helm and he chuckled. He left them in the large base then with a large pile of Energon. Unrationed.

While the other femmes dug into the Energon, Nightshade focused her attention to the rafters. She climbed up and settled there, her optics closing.

Starsong climbed up after her, and then the other femmes.

Seekers were social and they loved being together. That went beyond their thoughts. It was instinct. Safety in numbers, even though they were learning to like this Seeker mech. They began to play guessing games on just who their new master was.

"Starscream?"

Nightshade liked that thought. "No, it couldn't have been," she said reluctantly.

"Maybe Skywarp," another pitched, but Nightshade knocked that one out as well.

"Could be an Areialbot."

"They died out. They were all mechs," Dragonbreath voulanteered. She sighed and swung from a rafter, purring gently. "Mm... Maybe we'll find out in the morning?"

The femmes nodded and they laid down in the rafters, hanging or lounging like big cats in their trees.

The mech came in with blankets and he watched them, making soft impressed noises. "Even though I left you two, you are still banding together to fill the void."

Dragonbreath and Comettrail twitched gently at his voice and laid still. Nightshade cracked an optic open, then closed it.


	4. Chapter 4

Optimus was worried now. The sparklings he had sired in the Seekers would be due any day now, and they were gone. What if a bot still believing in the Decepticon values got them? Optimus stiffened. What if Tarn got to them? He shook his helm, grabbing at it. He couldn't think of these _what if_ s. He needed evidence to help him find his femmes.

 **ooo**

Comettrail woke up when she fell down from the rafters and she blinked her optics open, groaning. She had gotten weak. Optimus' exercises and him letting them go outside kept her active and alert, but now she and the other femmes were completely useless. Would Prime even recognize them if he found them?

Only Phoenyx kept herself fit. She did chin-ups, her large belly constantly getting in the way. She said the sparklings were getting restless and she predicted their birth in a few days, two at the most. She was still as proud and as beautiful as the day she was when she was taken.

Everyone else was grey and dusty and lazy. The mech didn't touch them. He would give them Energon, open or close a window or two, then leave. If this was his version of free, Comettrail wanted nothing to do with it. She fought to her pedes, whining as she saw the filth of the barn floor sticking to her slick thighs. The hormones she had been fed from Optimus were building up inside her, but were fading with the fresh Energon that sat by the door. She wished for a hot shower, a nice hose-down and wing-rub from her Prime, but he wasn't available.

So she waited for the mech to come back. She sat in front of the door and keened. The others followed suit, and gave the mech the start of his life when he opened the door.

Fyreworks got up and bounded straight into his arms. The mech's face scrunched up and he pushed her away, Fyreworks whining gently. "Bathe us?"

"Please! Please, touch us!" the femmes chimed. The mech slowly opened the door further and ushered them all outside.

The sunlight blinded the femmes momentarily, and some simply collapsed onto the grass and rolled in it. The mech watched in a confused way, then lined them up. He fetched the hose, turned it on, and the femmes gave shocked shouts as cold water pelted them. They stayed where they stood, but their wings lowered and they shook. Relief didn't come when the mech turned the hose off. Phoenyx hoped for a moment to lay in the sun, but the mech just patted them dry with a towel and waved them back into the barn. Once the door shut, the femmes went back to laying around and whining.

"I want to fly," Starsong said as she looked out the window. She hadn't flown since she was born, but the femmes, if they had patience, would take her out on their altforms and she would be in the air.

Phoenyx rubbed her back, then turned her helm to watch Comettrail. Her optics were dim. She had had a plan to get the femmes outside and warm and loved, but instead, they knew nothing except they had been cooped in the darkness for far too long.

The red femme frowned and looked at the window, patting Starsong's shoulder. "We're leaving tonight."

The statement didn't even rouse the others. They looked at her, whined, and laid back down. Their wings were limp, as if all the fight that made them Seekers was robbed.

 **ooo**

As soon as the moon turned the grass silver, Phoenyx was up and frantically ripping at the window and the wood. She made a small exit the mech wouldn't notice if he just glanced at it, and then she grabbed at the femmes. She forced Comettrail out, followed by Starsong, then Fyreworkds, but when she went to grab for Nightshade, she grabbed air. Nightshade had sat back down.

Phoenyx hissed and she walked over. "Nightshade, come on." She pulled the femme to her pedes, but the femme squeaked and sunk to her knees, clutching her belly. "What's wrong?"

"Pain," she hissed. She looked at Phoenyx with cold optics. "I have a good three hours before you have to leave me behind. Get me as close to home as you can."

Phoenyx remembered Nightshade wasn't a first time carrier, and she nodded. She helped Nightshade out of the exit she made, but whined at what she saw.

The mech that had them captive was there with a length of chain in his servos. The other femmes were cuffed and shackled at his pedes.

"I've tried to be nice. I saved you from captivity, but you only want to return to that awful place? I won't be nice anymore..." His optics glittered dangerously, shifting from blue to purple to red. He took the chain between his two servos and he advanced towards the two femmes, giving them no where to run.

 **ooo**

Megatron assured Optimus Tarn was dealt with, but the Prime was unconvinced. So the warlord welcomed Optimus to his base, led him to the prison portion to show Optimus that he was right and that there was nothing to fear, but instead, Megatron proved Optimus was right.

Tarn's shackles were empty.

Optimus turned his helm to regard his friend. "May I panic now?"

"Be my guest."

 **ooo**

Nightshade paced the barn as well as she could. Her legs weren't working right, there was severe pain, and no one could help her other than plead for her to sit. "I feel better standing."

Phoenyx was laying on her side, her face crusted with Energon and dented in. She growled lowly at the soft begging and pleading, but didn't stop them. Her optics closed. Energon stained the ground under her hip.

Comettrail watched as Energon began to run down Nightshade's legs and she whined gently. "Nightshade, please sit down."

Nightshade sat down slowly and awkwardly, her optics squeezed shut. She didn't move much after that until there was soft exicted noises.

"I can see a helm!"

The femme adjusted herself, and gave a gasp when she felt a tiny body squeeze into the world. It was tiny, and not far behind it was another helm, another life. Nightshade lifted her first born son with shaky servos, craddling it gently and gasping when the little one blinked at her with blue optics.

For the first time in years, the sparkling of a breeder imprinted on its true mother.

Nightshade craddled her sons and daughter when they were born, their weak cries filling the barn. Phoenyx opened her optics and watched the little Seekerlings writhe in the femme's arms, who watched them fondly.

She and Nightshade stayed awake, just watching the little sparklings while everyone fell asleep.

 **I had abandoned this, but then I got a cool idea. I had the identity of the mech all sorted out, but, surprise, he changed. In comes Tarn, thinking the war is still going, and what promises victory?**

 **Armies he can make.**


	5. Chapter 5

Nightshade had never talked more than the first day she spent with her children. "There were thirteen, and they were all mechs save one femme, and she was Solus Prime. She was the Forger, a femme that could make anything she desired with her Forge..."

Comettrail rolled over, her chains moving. "Remember when femmes were honored like that?"

Phoenyx grunted. "It wasn't that long ago."

Starsong perched herself on a window sill. "Human females aren't treated any better..."

Nightshade growled all of them quiet. "The point is, time has changed and we are the future of the race..end of story."

"End of story," Phoenyx laughed. "I remember when you were bent out of shape over a mech. Don't you dare speak down to us." The red Seeker pushed herself to her pedes and roared a little. Her optics glittered angrily. "I was respected. I wasn't Optimus' fragtoy."

Nightshade stared her down and she curled slowly around her sparklings. "Then why did you voulanteer to repopulate?"

"How was I supposed to know that-"

"Hello! Repopulating doesn't mean one and then you're done. We've got millions of sparklings to replace, and only six dozen femmes working on it. You can't tell me you didn't think this through..." Nightshade got to her pedes, her wings flaring. "On Cybertron, things weren't much better, were they? I bet you had mechs on your heels, slobbering..."

"More than you ever had, that's for sure!" Phoenyx snapped.

Nightshade laughed gently and shook her helm. "I don't believe this..." She looked down at her sparklings and she lifted them into her arms. "You want to be the hero of this story?"

Phoenyx dimmed her optics.

"I've got a plan..."

 **Short little chapter. I hate writing them this short, but I needed to write this XD I got a review that got me thinking and I wrote this to give him/her some comfort that I'm taking care of it XD I didn't know who it was. It was a guest. I like when guests review, but sometimes I wonder why I don't block guests from reviewing, and it's because some of my best fics were from guests. Like Blind. (Blind has Arcee and she isn't great in that fic because she frags Wheeljack. Check it out). Yes, a lot of my fics have interfacing, but some don't. Like Blind, once again.**

 **I like strong female characters, but when I make strong female characters in rp, they're called OP. Eh. All well. I'll still keep Nightshade around. I like her attitude.**

 **So, due to that lovely, lovely review, a new songfic is in the works.**

 **The author's note is longer than the actual story now XD I better shut up XD Thanks for reading this. Bye-bye.**


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